In an acquisition that expands its footprint in the region, NRG Home Solar said Tuesday it has purchased the Northeast operations of Verengo Solar.

The deal gains NRG Home Solar 100 employees in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, an important territory where solar adoption has been strong in recent years.

NRG Home Solar President Kelcy Pegler Jr. said the acquisition was a strategic move to pocket one of the most important resources in the solar industry: people.

"One of the most under-appreciated things in solar as it relates to how quickly the market is growing is there's no existing job pool of solar experienced people," he said in an interview. "Very few people can say they have a decade's worth of solar experience."

It is also a move that highlights the company's corporate benefits, being owned by NRG Energy Inc.

"We have some advantaged levers compared to competing companies out there," Pegler said, adding that the company is keeping an "open mind" to other buyouts.

NRG Home Solar offers solar panels to residents in California, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Last year, it acquired Pure Energies, an online and telephone sales firm, and Roof Diagnostics Solar, a solar installer.

Headquartered in Princeton, N.J., and Houston, Texas, NRG Energy Inc. is a diversified energy company with divisions that provide electricity supply, solar installations, home energy services, public charging stations for mobile devices and electric vehicles.